Modern History General Course Year 12

Selected Unit 3 syllabus content for the

Externally set task 2017

Unit 3 – Societies and change

Unit description

Students learn about the evolving nature of societies and the various forces for continuity and change that exist. Students learn that some values, beliefs and traditions are linked to the identity of a society. They also learn that, in any period of change, there are those individuals and institutions that support change, but others that oppose it, and that there are different interpretations of the resultant society.

Unit content

This unit includes the knowledge, understandings and skills described below.

Historical Skills

The following skills will be developed during this unit.

Chronology, terms and concepts
  • identify links between events to understand the nature and significance of causation, continuity and change over time
  • use historical terms and concepts in appropriate contexts to demonstrate historical knowledge and understanding
Historical questions and research
  • formulate, test and modify propositions to investigate historical issues
  • frame questions to guide inquiry and develop a coherent research plan for inquiry
  • identify, locate and organise relevant information from a range of primary and secondary sources
  • practise ethical scholarship when conducting research
Analysis and use of sources
  • identify the origin, purpose and context of historical sources
  • analyse, interpret and synthesise evidence from different types of sources to develop and sustain an historical argument
  • evaluate the reliability, usefulness and contestable nature of sources to develop informed judgements that support a historical argument
Perspectives and interpretations
  • analyse and account for the different perspectives of individuals and groups in the past
  • evaluate critically different historical interpretations of the past, how they evolved, and how they are shaped by the historian’s perspective
  • evaluate contested views about the past to understand the provisional nature of historical knowledge and to arrive at reasoned and supported conclusions
Explanation and communication
  • develop texts that integrate appropriate evidence from a range of sources to explain the past and to support and refute arguments
  • communicate historical understanding by selecting and using text forms appropriate to the purpose and audience
  • apply appropriate referencing techniques accurately and consistently

Historical Knowledge and Understanding

Students study one of the following electives which is to be taught with the requisite historical skills described as part of this unit.

  • The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain 1750–1890s
  • Australia 1914–1949
  • The Meiji Restoration 1853–1911
  • The USA between the wars 1918–1941
  • India 1919–1948 – a study of the end of the British Empire

The impact of the following forces should be considered, where appropriate, throughout the elective:

  • political
  • economic
  • leadership
  • international relations/conflicts
  • social/cultural.

Students study the chosen elective using the following framework.

Elements of a society at the start of the period
  • key political, social and economic structures of a society at the start of the period
  • values, beliefs and traditions that have become integral to the society
  • individuals and groups who hold power and those who do not
  • relative importance of events, issues, people and other factors in shaping the nature of society at that particular time
Key people, ideas and events over the period
  • relationship between events, ideas and people throughout the period
  • methods and strategies used by leaders, individuals and groups seeking change
  • extent of support for opposing leaders, individuals, groups or organisations and alternative ideas throughout the period
Consequences of continuity and change over the period
  • impact of historical forces on individuals and groups
  • various forms of continuity and change throughout the period of study
  • extent of economic, political and social change compared to the start of the period

Modern History General Year 12: Externally set task content 20171